Multistate AG Coaltion Urges Apple to Ensure Privacy of Third-Party Health Apps

In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the AGs say patient privacy has become a priority since the SCOTUS Dobbs decision.

A coalition of attorneys general from 10 states is urging Cupertino, CA-based Apple to vouch for the security of consumers' reproductive health information disclosed in third-party apps.

In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the AGs – nine Democrats and Vermont Republican AG Susanne R. Young – say that patient privacy has become a priority since the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision this year that overturned Roe V. Wade. Dobbs precipitated a barrage of rigorous antiabortion laws, primarily in more than a dozen Republican-controlled states.

The AGs in their letter to Cook reminded him that "Apple has long promoted privacy as one of its "core values," and that third-party apps' collecting users' search histories, location, and health data and histories could be "weaponized" by law enforcement, private entities, or individuals to target women seeking or providing abortions or other reproductive healthcare.

The AGs note that Apple has adopted rigorous privacy and security measures; for example, Apple ensures that Apple Health data — including reproductive data — is automatically encrypted. The company also has privacy controls that allow consumers to limit apps' access to certain sensitive information and requires apps to request permissions only when needed to provide service.

"Given Apple's consistent promotion of its commitment to privacy, consumers reasonably expect the same from the third-party apps that Apple allows on the App Store," the AGs say in the letter.

"However, third-party apps that sync with Apple Health, as well as apps that independently collect reproductive health data from consumers, frequently fail to meet these same standards."

Specifically, the AGs want Apple to require third-party app developers to certify that their privacy policies will:

• Delete nonessential data, including location history, search history, and other data of consumers who may be seeking or helping to provide an abortion;
   
• Provide clear and conspicuous warnings of the potential for apps to disclose to third parties user data related to reproductive healthcare, and may do so only when required by a valid subpoena, search warrant, or court order;
   
• Implement the same or better privacy standards for App Store apps that collect consumers' reproductive health data, or that sync with user data stored on Apple devices.

In a media release accompanying the letter, California Attorney General Rob Bonta says that "in the wake of the Dobbs ruling, our fight to protect reproductive freedom has never been more crucial."

"We urge Apple to heed our call and protect their users from attempts to regulate their bodies and curtail their freedom by improving consumer protections for third-party apps in the App Store," Bonta says.